


Up On The Housetop

by impravidus



Series: 12 Days of Winter Whumperland 2020 [2]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)
Genre: Banter, Flash Thompson Redemption, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Ice Skating, M/M, Ned Leeds is a Good Bro, No Plot/Plotless, Precious Ned Leeds, Precious Peter Parker, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Winter Whumperland 2020
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-15
Updated: 2020-12-15
Packaged: 2021-03-10 22:27:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,113
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28094643
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/impravidus/pseuds/impravidus
Summary: “Mother hecking candy caning heckballs!”Winter fluff featuring Interwebs, good hot chocolate, and a figure skating Flash Thompson.
Relationships: Ned Leeds & Peter Parker, Ned Leeds/Peter Parker, Peter Parker & Flash Thompson
Series: 12 Days of Winter Whumperland 2020 [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2056323
Comments: 9
Kudos: 61





	Up On The Housetop

“Mother hecking candy caning heckballs!”

Ned laughs loudly as he steadies Peter. “You got this, dude.”

“Oh that’s so easy for you to say,” Peter retorts. “You think you’re so much better than me because you can ice skate? Well, get out of my ice skating rink!”

“I should’ve never introduced you to Starkid. It has fueled you with too many quotable lines.”

“ _ANI_ is the only valid Star Wars adaptation,” Peter says through gritted teeth as he struggles to hold himself up while also focusing on not turning Ned’s bone into dust.

“You can’t mean that,” Ned says.

“No. I don’t mean that," Peter admits. " _Clone Wars_ slaps.”

Ned laughs again. “C’mon. Let’s go to the wall.”

“No! I will not surrender. I _will_ figure this out.” He shimmies out of Ned’s hold and wobbly stands. “Look. I’ve got it!”

“Why is this so hard for you? I was sure after everything, this would be in your wheelhouse.”

“It’s because I _stick_ to things, Ned. Ice is like the opposite of sticking.”

Ned pats him on the back with sudden realization of his mistake and rushes to catch him as he falls. “Sorry.”

Peter glares at him. “You’re horrible. I’m gonna… I’m gonna… I’m gonna not put whipped cream into your hot cocoa the next time I make it!”

Ned grins. “I love that that’s the harshest threat you can come up with.”

“It’s a good threat. Whipped cream in your hot cocoa is crucial. Maybe even more crucial than marshmallows.”

Ned slips an arm around Peter’s waist. Peter melts into the touch and leans his head on Ned’s shoulder. 

“Yeah,” Peter sighs, eyes fluttering shut, “this is nice.”

“Hey losers.”

Peter’s eyes snap open.

MJ skates backwards towards them, her legs moving masterfully in the perfect swivel that Peter just can’t comprehend. 

“Any luck yet?” Betty asks.

“Not yet,” Ned replies.

Betty smiles sympathetically. “You’ll figure it out, Peter.”

“Thanks, Betty,” Peter says, face flushing more than it already was.

Betty skates away elegantly.

“Did you know that ice skates were originally made of animal bones?” MJ asks. 

“Uh, can’t say I did,” Peter admits.

“You wouldn’t believe the kinds of things you can make with animal bones.” And with that, she was gone.

“Ned?” Peter says meekly.

Ned turns his head to face Peter, searching his face with concern. “Yeah?” 

“Can we go sit down? I’m exhausted.”

Ned nods. “I thought you’d never ask.”

The two hobble to the benches where their bags sit.

“Hot cocoa?” Ned asks.

“Hit me,” Peter replies with a bright grin.

Peter had engineered special thermoses that would keep their drinks the perfect temperature no matter what temperature it was outside. 

“Couldn’t bring the whipped cream since it’d be frozen solid,” Ned says.

“Dude,” Peter says, “you think I’d leave you hanging like that?” Peter pulls out a tiny container filled with whipped cream. He scoops a heaping dollop onto Ned’s mug and the rest into his.

The tension in Peter’s shoulders release as he sips the thick drink. He moans softly in delight.

“Did I make it right?” Ned asks.

“You did,” Peter replies. “You always do.”

“I know what you like.”

Peter snuggles into Ned’s side. “This was nice.”

“That’s not what you were saying five minutes ago when you were throwing your temper tantrum.”

Peter digs his fingers into Ned’s ribs. “That’s not what I mean. I mean being here with you. We don’t get to do this enough.”

Ned smiles and presses a soft kiss to Peter’s temple. “We should do it more often then.”

Peter threads his fingers through Ned’s and gives it a gentle squeeze.

Ned is about to take another sip of his hot chocolate when he freezes. “Is that Flash?”

Peter’s head jolts up and he scours the rink.

In the center of the rink was Flash doing an intricate routine filled with turns and jumps.

“Did you know he could do that?” Ned asks.

“Yeah. His parents weren’t really around when we were kids, so they signed him up for a bunch of after school programs. None of them really stuck but figure skating did.”

“What else did he do?” Ned asks curiously.

“Uh, lemme think.” He pauses. “I know for sure he tried ballet and tap, though he was much better at tap than ballet. He did taekwondo and made it to red belt. He did basketball for like a week, stuck with soccer a little longer, and tried swimming but dropped out for reasons he never told me, though I’m pretty sure it’s because he was embarrassed about his failed dive at his first meet.”

Ned whistles. “He had a busy childhood.”

“Yeah, he did.”

The two fall into a silence.

“Do you think Flash could teach me how to skate?” Peter asks.

“You really think he would?” Ned questions.

“No. Probably not. But I think he’d love any opportunity to see me be bad at something and be the one that knows more than me.”

“Finish your cocoa and we can go ask,” Ned says.

Peter rests his head back on Ned’s shoulder and takes a slow sip of his cocoa.

When they do go to ask, there’s a surprising lack of teasing and an even more surprising amount of patient teaching. 

“You’ve gotta learn how to fall,” Flash starts.

“Fall?” Peter repeats.

“You’re gonna be falling a lot, so falling with technique means you won’t snap your leg in half.”

“Well, we don’t want that, do we?” Ned says.

Then they move on to simple swivels.

“Don’t lead with your hips," Flash instructs. "And bend your knees. Don’t think of it as walking. It’s not.”

Peter falls again. 

“I just don’t get it!” Peter huffs in frustration.

“You’re too tense," Flash explains. "You’re trying to find solid ground, but there is none. This is ice. You have to treat it like it.”

Determined, Peter nods and pulls himself up. “I can do this.”

And he does! He gets it!

As Peter makes a successful lap around the rink, he declares that that’s all he wanted to accomplish for the day and is giving up.

“Hey, thanks so much, Flash,” Peter says, stretching out his already healing bruised limbs. “I really owe you.”

“Always a pleasure embarking my wisdom onto those with none,” Flash says.

Peter’s smile tightens momentarily. “Uh, hey, we have some extra hot cocoa. Would you like some?” 

Flash’s eyes go wide. “Really?”

“It’s the least I can do,” Peter says.

Flash sucks in a sharp breath. “I’d… yeah. That’d be great.”

Peter nods over to the bench. “Follow me.”

Peter falls on his face as he leads the way.

**Author's Note:**

> If you want to chat, my Tumblr is [official-impravidus](https://official-impravidus.tumblr.com/)


End file.
